The End Is Near
The more Madalyn O’Hair appeared on television shows, the more people in the United States started to despise her. However, O’Hair was enjoying her celebrity status and unaware of the plot that was about to unfold in her later life. O’Hair soon stopped appearing on so many television shows, and it seemed that people slowly forgot about her. Her sons grew up and soon started their own lives with their own families. However, not everyone forgot about Madalyn O’Hair and her Supreme Court case against religion in the schools.
In her personal life, her oldest son, Bill, become Evangelical and rejected his mother’s own beliefs. He began to blame the feelings and actions of his brother, Garth, and his daughter, Robin on his mother. Years after the death of his mother, Bill would admit that both his mother and his brother called him a traitor because he had turned to religion. However, no matter what happened between O’Hair, Garth, Robin, and himself, Bill never wanted their lives to end the way they did.
The Kidnapping and Murder of O’Hair, Her Son, And Her Granddaughter
On August 27, 1995, Bill Murray’s life would change forever when his daughter, Robin, his brother, Garth, and his mother disappeared. At first, it seemed as if the trio had left for an emergency because, on the door of their office, there was a typewritten note which read, “The Murray O’Hair family has been called out of town on an emergency basis. We do not know how long we will be gone at the time of the writing of this memo.”
However, it was not long before things started to look fishy. Upon their investigation, police discovered that Garth had ordered $600,000 worth of gold coins from a San Antonio jeweler. O’Hair’s organization, the American Atheists, received phone calls from the trio until September 28, 1995. Eventually, the FBI, IRS, and police realized that the Waters, a family where O’Hair had been accused of murdering a teenager, kidnapped the trio. Soon, a search was underway to find the family. The authorities then went in search of Waters and another man, Gary Karr.
Both the men were arrested and tried in court. Karr was found guilty of conspiracy to commit extortion, money laundering, and interstate transportation of stolen property. They found Waters guilty of robbery, kidnapping, and homicide. However, it would not be until 2001 when Waters finally told authorities the location of the bodies. He led investigators to a Texas ranch, where they found three bodies. Their legs had been sawed off, and because of decomposition, investigators could only identify the bodies as O’Hair, Garth, and Robin through dental records.
Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“The Controversial Figure who was Called the ‘Most Hated Woman In America.'” Steve Palace, Vintage News. November 2018.
“Bodies Identified as Those of Missing Atheist and Kin.” Ross E. Milloy, New York Times, March 2001.
“Who Was Madalyn Murray O’Hair?” Beliefnet.
“Why Madalyn Murray O’Hair Was the Most Hated Woman in America.” Sean Elder, Newsweek. March 2017.
” The Atheists’ Cold Case Gets Warmer”. Paul Duggan, The Washington Post, August 1999.
“The Son &”. The Washington Post, Henry Mitchell, November 1982.